I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. - Thomas Jefferson

The Revolution Continues

by West Virginia Rebel

Third-party politics may have its say on election day in at least two states. First up, Montana:

On September 5, the ballot-qualified Constitution Party of Montana submitted its presidential elector candidates to the Secretary of State. The party informed the Secretary of State that its electors are pledged to Ron Paul for president and Michael Peroutka for vice-president. Ron Paul was aware that the party planned to do this, and has said that as long as he can remain passive and silent about the development, and as long as he need not sign any declaration of candidacy, that he does not object.

Montana, like Alaska and some other Western states, has a reputation for being somewhat idiosyncratic in its politics. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but it does tend to allow the kooks to crawl out of the woodwork. And then there’s Bobby Jindal’s home state:

On September 4, a slate of presidential electors was filed at the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office, in person. The electors are pledged to Ron Paul for president, and former Congressman Barry Goldwater, Jr., for vice-president. The partisan label for this slate is “Louisiana Taxpayers Party.” The filing, and the $500 was accepted, but the Secretary of State did not commit to printing the slate on the ballot. However, there is no law that says presidential candidates at the November election must sign any declaration of candidacy.

What does this mean for John McCain? Probably not much. However much I might have agreed with Ron Paul on some issues, his Revolution has now become a largely symbolic protest vote, driven largely by the aforementioned disgruntled kooks. If this gains any traction at all, look for President Obama come November.

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